Many products include one or more components that may be replaced (including upgrading) during the use of the product. Replacement may occur, for example, if the component completes its useful life, becomes obsolete, breaks down due to wear and tear or defects, or other reasons.
An example of a replaceable component is a print cartridge for an electronic printer. A print cartridge contains printing material such as ink or toner, and is placed into a cartridge receptacle of a printer. A black-and-white printer may take only one print cartridge that holds black ink or toner, while a color printer may take one or more print cartridges, for example one print cartridge that holds black ink or toner and one or more other print cartridges that hold colored inks or toners. During the use of the printer, the ink or toner in the print cartridge is used up, or the print cartridge may break down or become obsolete, thereby motivating the user of the printer to purchase a new print cartridge as a replacement.
Counterfeit and plug-compatible components may cause a significant loss of revenue for the manufacturers of the genuine/authorized replacement components. A counterfeiter, for example, manufactures a replacement component such as a print cartridge, and fraudulently markets the component as an authentic replacement component under the name of an authorized replacement-component provider. A plug-compatible manufacturer cloner, on the other hand, also manufactures a replacement component, but markets (at times legally) the component as a compatible replacement component under the name of an unauthorized (e.g., third-party) replacement-component provider.